The continuing adventures of a girl and her dogs
...and now also partner and baby...

Monday, December 21

December 19: San Diego, Dog Beach, Ocean Beach, and Robert August

After picking up the loaner board from Dan’s friend Geoff, who lives moments from some great surf in Del Mar, we wandered to my favorite spot from my time in SD, Ocean Beach. I took Joe, Carrie and Robert to Dog Beach so they could run around in the sand and surf with some California dogs (Carrie and Robert are both rescued from shelters in California, so maybe it felt familiar to them, who knows?) After running around for a while, this is what they did:

Ocean Beach is not fancy at all, but offers everything you need or want at the beach in southern California. I have always preferred it to the glamour and boardwalks of Pacific Beach, and certainly over the pretentiousness of La Jolla. Ocean Beach is bare bones, but feels authentic and real. They do have a Starbucks now, which is probably something that should bother me, but the Seattle side of me is grateful for a little piece of home so I went in and had a grande coffee.

After some vegan tamales, and with the dogs were safely and coolly parked in the shade, Abigail was revved on caffeine and we made another push for the surfboard. We were about to head east to Tucson, so there would not be another surf town until Mazatlan so it was the best time to make the final push for a board.

The third shop had the Robert August “What I Ride,” the board that Mr. August calls his “If I could only have one board board.” It was beautiful with stripes down the length in red and yellow and white. Not only that, but the price was much cheaper than the little shop in Morro Bay. We talked them down $100 and then took the plunge! The board is epoxy, more durable that the fiberglass, and easy to handle in the surf.

Bussy’s license plates are the ski plates offered by Washington and say: “Washington: Big Mountains, Real Snow.” Bussy seems just as cool (possibly more so) in her beach outfit with two surfboards on top. Here are the pics you’ve all been waiting for:

First, it took us a while to figure out how to strap two boards on top. By the time the boards are side by side, there isn't any room for a person to be up on top.